xxi bomber command air intelligence report, v1n13

8/8/2019 XXI Bomber Command Air Intelligence Report, V1N13

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It Is intended tha t this Weekly re .por t be a source or Inforl'Mt1on to r coba t crews end sta rr officers who have-;legitimate interes t In the operations otth e XXI Banber Command. 'Uthin thosel imi ts it should receive th e widest pos.sib le c l rculo . t1on pe rmiss ib le under thep rov i si ons o r AR ~ 8 0 _ 5 .

In order that a IlI8XIID1l1l1 of intelli_gence may be included, th e report 13given an ove ra ll c la ss if i ca ti o n ot Seer e t . ':then th e nature of th e materialwar ra nt s. i nd iv id ua l art icles have re_ceived a lower security claSSification.The report Is so assembled thet thecomponent sections may be removed enclcirculated or filed separetely. I t port ions are reproduced, security regula.t i ans must be obse rved and the sourcecredi ted.Correspondence regarding this ~ b l1cat1on should be addressed to the 011mand1ng General, XX! Bomber CoaElSOO,APO 234, c/ o Postlll8ster, San Franeueo,Cal1tcrn1a, Attent1on: AP of S. A..2.

( 7 ; ~ t ~c f f ~ ~ i . G.S.C.AC of 5, ..&-2AUTH: C.G.XXI B.C. Initials (J.dDATI 2 JUne 1945 VR tor 3:i1h PTU

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e potential Sarden plots in'0 (, M l aSt p as s) ware createdt l 1 1 ~ t or 2 ~ - 2 3 ua,y when 51401 th e XXI Be-bel" COIa&nd drop.' ,659 tollS or incendiaries ont dty . '!bls fa r exceeds, 1.n. , . d . r o p ~ d a t housand p laneIlea ot a-hs or 8-24s c:ne.r....

u r p t , th e southern urbenor th e c1ty, 1.5 very 1aportanted-Uy. I t contains aeru- i'llt&!'.to rs l l and s to rqe f acUi t ie s ,:lD41.Q". th e Shl na pwa : \eU ro adis, d l " r sU l ed i ndus t r i a llV1\1 . Alrcra.rt part5, ba l l1AII. c c c . u n l ~ a t l o n s equipJlent,

c a n D O Q and a.mn1t lon and lIl&cbtools ar . a re . of the 1tA Scad in th e area. ' nle Shina&aw1.1 th e second mOSt 1npor tant1'otTo and ta a aeJar cootrolon tokkaido line eonnectlokusaka, yollXlb..... xawa.sak1SCQ"b to\1o with other parts ofcit" a'1d t'!.. country. Al a r , .t l l \qe of th e raw oaterial.s Ie>to t.."- raetorles 1n thiS areaO9tIr this 11ne.

" ; ~ ~ .. is a solLd residentia l.........t : 'W cCl:lplex w1th an as::: PoPUlation density or r rc .'. to '15,000 persons pe r ,quar.teToULs (P mE ' ' l S S I ~ 1

'lbe $&tb "108 SUilPU.d l2'7 aU'to. tb e 131'(1 168 th e 3l3tb 103t '14th 160 r::n. a tota l or 558... ,

B C l D b 1 n ~ or t..... ' . . a r ~ ~ . . .v l s ~ U y and b; r1ti:r ~ ' , ~ " Y ' t.o12,300 teet. ' 1 t.r..L.Ao a:. ufollor.o 5 < e ~ 1U a t . ~ ; o C ' . actons; 73" ' , 1.55 &OS 1.. 'P04 t ~ ~ 1 3 t b , 94 and 'i.e'" toaI; . U ~ . 14a1rcra!'t dro..- iv ~ tPboto reeoa.'\8U'SDCtt t4 = :".Qshowed 3.2 sqa&:. a l a . ":' t .........with o:1lJ partial CO'f't:q& kl 'Y .obta.1Md. S...ra1 ~ , t t l 0:' or":port:.mit)' &lso n U t.Tbirt)' four atre:a!t - .cot ! . . ~ r -fecti"e end 16 ..ere lost. :-:'"tlos t tl ) unlr:na-n e8l1!es.a:. bell.. 11to b ay . 100. d Oft:" t .. . u:",t.'nlera were c r " r t ~ t I 0:' .l"I"C'alhaving blten b lt b7 flak, ) a )U aDdn&ht..erOM 5Btn -tne plaDa d l ~ , .. 111 of 12 ~ N J ~ at.reraft c r a s ~ ~ : oa t ~ . , . r dl,Dbo. QO casual t ies ; oM $et.''1 "tillplane, no o:.sr.1&lt:u aDd oaa : ! ~ U 1"7iO& plana !'t'(II .. ...1c..l :'1'" ..,ber. bad ' t* ll ed out Oft:'. tar

sa t .AIR DPrasr::"" . ' "*,,,t'\""

BnQ1 air o ; ; o p o s l t i . ~ l l Qth . win&'. ~ S u rerorted .. uoppod t loa. w1. tb 20 e.., p.b:lIlts lsb ted !b&f clahed tho .. d__strOJad. tnc!udln& twO J&DS.!be 13rd WitC rer-ol"'Wd e5 etJeOll.tars , wltb 30 ~ s 1 Y e a ~ u . e ~ .

one &-29" obItrt"ed eo1Udln l ...1'::1


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Strait .s. Four raid 2 in '"aiz'.I%'UT!arbor. 'ioes Rare dropped tra:J5,500 to 6.650 feet.The 313th lost one s1rcraf'twhich crashed and expbded at theend of the runws" before heine airborne. Ten crel'men "ere killed andone seriously InJursd. ThiS aircraf t 19 -not included In the totalS

above.The results of t:-r.e !IIlSs iOIli areconsidered excelleDt. 1M iii_-fie ld in the westerD spprosch85 ofShi.,onosek i ha.S been stroDE;l1 swetened. The ' e n e ~ orobeb1Y'lJnJ f ' f#-

No fighter opposition was encountered. Flak ran from all t meager and inaccurate at ne.rna:natsudue to undercast. no a1rcraft wasl o s t ; ~ o r ~ 6 ~ , \ 1 ; ! y , J : : ~ a J u . ' . I

Post strike photO$ reveal damage'to n,amamatsu totallng 21780,000square feet. A!lprpxlrnetely 20 percent of TarBet 1227, the SUzuki LoaD' ' lorks, is destroyed. Total dar.lageto th e cit:,- is no,;/ about 9 .3 ppr_cent . ("ecret)

... . . . _._.., ~ ' \ " W " _ ~ " m11es . northwest o f TiniaJt..afte:lt akeoff . Six survivors were p i c ~up t four of wh.om l1vlijl;. ,Anotbej3l3th '.'I1ng plane crashed on the mway on takeoff . The crew was resjc ue d a nd th is aircraft is no t in leluded in th e operational total.!above

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OCI tM '(brd 486 tons j 0.:1\:tJ j ;hth 299 tons and '15 fromtr'" t,e 404- tons. several tarr:J , l ) ~ t ~ ~ p o r t u n l t y werG bombGd andII lJ 0 . 't \fere ineffect ive.! .lJ'cra>

blllldred p_519 f lere a1 .rbornecart and proceeded to th e de 1S:re pOint but were forced tobSck because of the I'lea ther a-e9S of the 73rd " ling were~ . t 1 o n a l escort to th e f igh ters&rJ1 oDe strike B ~ 2 9 Jettisoned i t s~ : r : ~ ..nil e s c o r t e ~ three fighterS11 d15tl'!Ss to lwO.

toW losses were four a i rc ra f t .of tll8 58th Wing was 1n t roublethe JIlP ma.inland with one enout and 11 defective featheringIlI1Sc. The crew bailed ou t over.m al l wert rescued. One of3Htb 'ing plMes crashed nndmed on return af ter an nttempt

lIS .d e to go around on three en! ~ All cre.1 members were savedt : . l ~ l l l 2 h sev!"n were injured serious-

b ~ ~ 3 t h oini08 operat1on undo:'MJUUll1 0 date ?las flo:?n b ~ th e..,. ng on th e n l ~ h t of 20_21I r l l " e i ~ ~ ~ e t areas Vlere th e easternlOeekl srn a'}proaches to th e Sh1moIItzuru traits and the harbor of1bQ, On the north coast of '"{on-7'le 3Q IPl'd e 0 8 rcraft airborne e l l car~ t 1 . O O ~ P O U M mines with both~ ~ : : s e and :::agnetic nrr.:t1ng mech

1aii 11' Twonty t\'10 a i rc ra f t laidlid r o ~ ~ s li n the western approachesIitrl aid 24 mines in th o (mst-81tlrOl\cnes . .0 ~ i . . , o n o s n k l

a i r c r a f t . AlthOUgnwere l os t to unkno.rn 12 l:s ibly five to flalt{.'>-4 (,was sustained by a b ~ { 1 a \ 'of th e attaCk:1ng r o r ~ 10.,l i gh t cons1deritl8 the , ~ se s of th e area. Satm-atdefenses helped to r e d l l . C l l ~age.The flak-searchlight e't10n was generally goOd 'searchlhhts t r a c k l ~ a h . ~

cessfully. However, at t searchlights b e c a ~ Cllnnull\1nefficient . SCIDe 1Iletr.ground-to-at r rockets were(Secret )

Canpany. Targets 1219 aliiNakajima Aircraft C l l i l ~ '1ar.ely re.oved l. Tar,,'he Imper1al Goverrc.ent -Shops, T arg et l230. In '1 . . " ,4 I IUvarious 10'" ' and . .elll.., l . T " - , J - '/7 - ~ are believed to have been e_to war industries. Hl:lIlIttn.important ra i l JunctiOD III o!ka1do cain 11na. I t unllflammable and clOl811 tcll:ha,ving an average densUrDersons pe r SQuare mile.Airborne were 309follows: 67 tro :n thl S8tll _th e "3rd, 64 trom tne :s13111

from th e 314th.The very bad weather e a c ~

from th e assemblY po1Dt ~ t l i Iget necessitated bOllblDlof Hamall l8tsu by raWBT1so11d undercSSt. 'ftl:eo eo-bombing d ropped 1, , , 22,000 to 23,800 feet . _ of th e bombine shOl' ". .cra f t Of th e 58th 1181 I"'-- --:1P . a ~ c a t s u Containsthe Jane.n tlusical

FLAK

MiSs ion 178 on 19 tJaY,w8s plan..ned as 8 normal effort or a ll wingswit h t he Tachll


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.AWAMISHI PLAN ' tuIH HII ,I-------- .," on T;a8 ;:l1SS1onTne l a s t issue of th e A.I . l . reported t ! ' l ~ ~ . 'Kobe (Targetl 11 llay th e Ka'l'1anishi Aircraft COlllpanY !'Ie:to above 1111102 ) had been miSsed. A glance at the P c \faS based onprcwe th e i naccu ra ry o f that st3te'O.ent, wh1 ell on 24 t!ay.S ~ U : e photo3r aphy. Post..str1lfe photoS, o b t e 1 ~ d '1tIiS is aS 0'i'I' that th e plant .8..9 38 percent d e s t r ~ y ~ north ofcorrection we ar e bap?y to make. AreeS eeS !ul l or were"----.. ~ h plant t (eurrounded by dotted l ines). ,;,;er:1tlost entue

lYausee an a reeder ins ta l la t ions . These ':'IereWiped out. (Contident1al)

GUTTEO

1 I 1 1 1 " ~ ! 1 OJ.." ~ . ' Q \ 00,"

Apr i l 1945. thiS COOI08Dd-arate of only 2 percent, arate of 17 percent snd'rate of 1:'7" percent.It was only I7Mn t ' l 'was practically chased !::Iskies and run fighter ~ 1 1 P I " " ' : .to Allied bomberS t!l!t tbt'Force loss rates 8PprOS1l'teof th e XXI Banber cQlInao1At th e end of 1944 C t l l l , ~c en t f ig ur es available) ~ Force losS rate .a s ! 4 : r i ~casualty rate 1 percei Ifill'

damage rate ~ ~ C ' D C ~pares with m BOIIIbef,qrate of 1.4 percent! rt" i-1.2 percent and demal'oJIII"uallpercent during the ~ Uarch and,,}.prp; thUl 1---

The third nlnlng 01week followed on the n 1 ~ ~ ~ 1 ' tMay. Thirty aircraft o!' otWing were airborne to .4 t I l I , ~th e western approach to S ~ 1 ~St ra i t s , F u S h i k i ~ S h b l l l a l . c 'and Niigata. ,Nine la id 63 2,OOO.Pau.lIa t N11gata; nine laill 63ll1tb1-shik1-Shlmlnato, Nanao UtIseven la id 49 in the IlUtIIp'roach. to Shimonoseki Stn1t1.dropped elsei'mere a tb:te Iineffect ive. Only one aU.received from an enemyt1rcM.was negligible . Results rtmiSsion were consillered(Secret)

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mately l IUlles SOUthof Shlkolm. 'nle crew or t ~ " ,and three ';'fere reSCued bh a submarine. Eigl1t are .! ltit! b ~ ~ 1 r t .Some aircraft 1I'e1'searchlights and recetv:d ~ O ! I I Ivy and medlUl!1 AA fire. b:ltk

In response to inqUiries l a c C l : 1 ~parison has been obtained rran th e33rd Stat is t ical Control Unit onloss, dAlllage and casualty rates ofthe 8th Air Force with those of th eXXI Booher Cotm:tand.

This cOlllpar1son shows that aU'craft and crews ofth1s Command havehad a much better chance of get t ingthrough misSions safely than didthOse of the 8th Air Force.From the beginning of Operationson 17 August 1942 to 31 December1943\ the 8th Air Force had a sor_

ti e oss rate Of 4. 2 percent ,s dam_aJ;8 rate of ~ 6 t 2 percent and a casualty rate 0 _ percent.FrOlll i ts fi rst operetion &.GeinstJapan on 24 VPV8mber 1944 to 30M H I l 9 a n w . . ~ ' I'

One aircraft was lOllt approxl-

On the nl.G;ht of 22 ..23 }olay Shimo..nosaki Stre.1ts were mined again by:32 alreraft of t he 313 th Wing. S1.xteen laid 94 2,ooo_pounderll 1'0 th ewestern approaches and 14 laid 83B,OOO_pounders 1'0 the ea st ern approaches. One dropped 1'0 anotherarea.

\ X X I . ~ C ~ ~ 8 j

" ' LSU ..r.ell to sweep vigorOUSly f or tn re eor four day' and then attempt torun th e blockade and take hlS losses. The mining of th e lfe Said an chorage In the eastern approacheswill dellY the use of th e anchorageto ships over 1,000 tons to r tourto si x dayS and 1fl11 (:!1srunt th eo r ~ 8 n l z a t l 0 n of convoyS t n r o u ~ n tnes traHS. . 81ZUI'U ItSS mineO for 'tnesecond til l le.No aU' opposition was encounteredon the r.:IU!1on 600 flak was 'negl i

gible.


6/10

KAUIKAZSAll intervie7l' wi th Yo-lo t revealed th e f O l l ~ i ~ 7 k a % e pi&He is 19o he sa"" yea(,:.', old, cannot relld,c l o - . '-;, u ' s lad acted l 1ke 8"" . W se ..."v" dess adO . .. . I an oore orout amn fool.) He c8;::e ri!hthe of training school and ';I8.S toldwas to be a Yacikaze pilot. Hebegan training at 16. He never didany n ig ht f ly ing . In the line otnavigation train ing a ll he did wasgo by th e cap s_ .ty pi cal - fl y the

iron beam" pilot.NIGHT T,\CTIC5

"The only [!lethed of attack tsul;htwas to approach the enarlY f ren therear , and approX1n8telY 100 to 200ceters below I execute a dive togain speed, t hen climb sharp ly andpress attack hcae, frOOl lCll" and siXo'clock." This priSoner stated themost diff icul t part of n ight righter tacticS 1\'a5 to gaU&e diStancesaccurately. Pr190ner had never rtred hU guns dur ing n ight fly1l'18training, so could not 58.'/ 1Itla tet tec t gun flash would have on hiSeyesight, and doubted if it . o u l ~make 1llUch difference as pilots hadreceived no special iostructioo.Dark gl.anes were Dot used ror rl1ing. pilots 01-- ~ ~ ! ! , . iaU rU&btil, ll1abt or W: - (I,;UUO -deatia1) i. \

l a n d i ~ l 1 ~ h t s not used. Clle weeleof eecn raonth .,.as devoted to nightf lying. Prisoner had 20 hours ere&dl t . no special test :7!lS given farnight vision during any p ~ of thetr9.ining.

nnt, PO"f statements on fa i lu res.r tbt Jap ai r organization:f'risOller thought the Army failureelrrteld maintenance had cons 14

l ' 1 ~ l y added to Japan 's downfa l l in11: IIZ'tare. Tht! weakness had r e rJtIll in well over 10 pe rc en t l os _Ie 1n pUots and airplanes in l8nllq, talo::e&otf and other operation.t1 eeeldents.

captured Japanese pilots andulf c e ~ b e r s provide in teres t ing! t OIl N!PPon" Air Foree. TheIl'tr&!' !'lip l1kes to hear h1mse::rt'un. He l1kes to sho''1 off and, 1nI) ~ ~ l l & , b e p r o v i ~ e s both t e c h n i c a ~l:xl taotieal information of interes",t) rver? ere'll lllel:lber

CRGANIZATIOTI F A I L U R ~

~ pr1.sone:r, Who had seen Al Ued elrrtelds, stated there was noilllp&rtson between them and Jap a i r 111119. Cnly once had th e p','1 seen1Stetl ~ used on a runway. He

~ : l J l d not recall where .i1': was but~ l J . t it 1f8S on a J&9 Navy f ie ld .JAPANESE PILms

Prhoner or war interrogationse !IlOlfn that'~ : Pilots were good as could be" ~ 1 ~ 1 l ~ Consid.ering t raining theyl o o k ~ e . They ITere gene r al ly we llatter by th e Army.. . , ; n r ~ i g h t ftghter t raining pi lotsCt , l e ~ ! l t taUght land1na and take"Iss,t er , formation tlyi118 and\0 llaston Airfields wen l ig ht edSt laMina and t ake-o t t .

....

Inne(Uately. What .;'PIIIlIto be a coxlIllJnlcatlOlll '"approximately 100 teet Wlsurroundina: bulldlD&1 . .s 19hted on a cUrf . t t b l l ~ern t ip ot Tanega. strd'u.this ins ta l la t ion '" c and t racers were seeD \0'"th e ta:'1'er.

Arrangement s haf t MIa rJi'to r reception or lD-tusb' ' ;ther repor ts rroe ....m.issions a t both two-'::This sbould be a bit: '1t ion to th e i ~ p r O ~ (CII'ther torecastin& It IJOof iden t ia l )

J H O M . L A N D ~ Y W l A ' H

B-29s or the SOOth tirwp, 73l'll 'til.Ing Hnrnamatsu through the '0IIp lilt!

B-24s or t ~ 655th B ~ 3qua_dron 00 '7eather ileconnalssance,attached to the XXI BomColll, arenow staging delly weather mis_Hons trCX!l 1wo to th e E'tnplre.The opportunity to fil'e a fewwell-placed shots at Ja p in_stallations was not passed upon the f i r s t of these misSionsflown on 20 ray and Piloted byLt , r:ol. II. H. Chaves!e, Squadron CO with Capt. J.Q. Berta.5_3 as co-pilot. FlYing a t'1000 feet In clOUd. the a!r_p ene approached the Island orTenege just South of ~ u s h u towithin fIve miles ijy radar, thendropped t'r0lll th e clOUds to" t r a f 1 ~ altitude,

..,. .',1\:rr,1 r.. .

I II


7/10

.

011"1' LET HIS FANCY A C R O D ~ T I C Sr ~ . t . u E YCll__KEEP LOOTaIlG A..TlOOND.!l tl1 Hm: A BIID::JY Co;.urlG IN Fila

mlTI

"t'S eCllTl8 1n a t4 .let h1ln have 1t I:f,vJ ~ 1 5 5 , he'l l con00 dOll'l1 a'll'ay to:!!IIert and.---st1llr.th plent)' of speed-~ I ' l l d1l:lb back up:,:t: podt1on, aboveIII to t:Ja lef t .

ol15 aJt,hOV1I!!f ~ r ~ e d sort 01~ c r l l l f on hh~ path, and be tJl hU r>ln on ther;,.1't&t quarter. I t: - ~ ! l b l e that he'S':f.U to keep away, ., t,."e prop wash oft9 tor his finaltl'11la liIC1ents betore~ Re'S pick.

III up & lot ot speedIIhU dl't'e and nc'lt'-w.

'rne fol107!'lng four 51l0ts l' la Super for t being attacked onq,lushu by a Ja p fi,'Ihter on Sr",

ON 1'290\'1,ICYUSIIDI

y

,." ~ o ~ ~ h t e : ; ' starts divel'rcrn high above and tothe left of the '29.~ e 1 3 pot to ?lck upspeed. to r Ule t,pe ofattacl': hi s cr1entalmind has conceived, a.100,'1 tail approach andb r e a . ' ~ " : i a y

6 Jap rolls over onhis ~ a dewn, expcsln&hi s belly,and at fi rstglance i t would appearthat he'S started aSPl1t S but noticesthnt such Q t:'lQnouver Icompleted, would allow'11m l t t t le 1r any r l r ~I n th e 0:'1 t" e ~ p e r .fortress' uj'rer sur.r ~ ~ e __50 _lfflZItn 7 _


8/10

craf t . These are the lights 'll'hich"flick" th e aircraft 1n a veryshort search t i ie. IoAnually controlled "carry" lights on the innercirc les then focus on the aircraftand track them 1n ror the AA gunsor fighters "hile the plcy.-uP l 1 g h t . ~may s ea rch fo r other tarGets .

The Jap nas necessarllY devllne


9/10

tbll 1s the inter ior or th ellll11rlNp'l Ccabat Crew Reading~ - in the rear of th e brie fL1c haU. St rike pho tos . damageI.lIISS=ent photos and radar scopeC ~ : " are Posted here, a l l lao.

"-II " lth the names of the a i r ! e l l l l . . ~ n d e r s 'l'lhose crews took fteadlng material of an In .U,lgtnee nature also 1s avai l -there.

,"'. . . . R.seu. p .nel h .sltneut'rent material on th e sub_tirt8' POSted daily. Also, s1gh_t t or e n e ~ vessels are Ind1l 1 t h l l ' ~ the 1llap. The 6th Group,t1t


10/10

Whether as a result Dr t t , ~ ,le ts or no t an antt.,&!' I :fKapparently is rearing it s U61r!lllin Tokyo. At the first cDld'Nof the Suzuki cabinet the P r tOI' General " es e cial !.Billth e control .;0iio..t ~ h ~ e . .!1115.iiiOVement." (n

"'Your attention is caHillth e fac t that in case YOllI!'tl le;ent in handing the!ll la, 10

xxi bomber command air intelligence report, v1n13

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